| In Federal Trial
of Man Found Not Guilty in Bronx
Court of 2 Murders Now
Guilty in SDNY
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Sept 23 - A man who was
charged in The Bronx with two
2021 murder and then found not
guilty in a less than two week
trial there now faces a
Federal trial for the same
murders, starting on September
14. On April 28 U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Senior Judge Colleen McMahon
held a conference. Inner City
Press was there. The US
Attorney's Office on April 21
wrote in that the Acting
Attorney General, Todd
Blanche, directed that the
death penalty not be sought.
Still, there is learned
counsel on the
case. The AUSA, who has
said he is on two other
death-eligible cases in SDNY,
asked that the 3500 material
be attorneys-eyes-only until a
week before trial. He said the
witnesses live where the
defendant does - or did. He is
now in detention, awaiting
trial. On May 8 the US
Attorney's Office wrote in
asking Judge McMahon to
reconsider her order they
produce 3500 material by
August 21, arguing politely
that she does not have the
authority, and that "the
Government's witnesses did not
testify at the state trial,"
that safety is implicated. On May 22 defense
counsel filed a letter motion
seeking to suppress everything
found in the NYPD search of
1243 Findlay Avenue, saying
the warrant omitted
"materially different
clothing." On July 31 the US
Attorney's Office wrote in
opposing the defense motions
in limine to preclude ID
testimony from NYPD Detective
Faton Alickaj and sever the
felon in possession charge. On August 3 the
defendant's lawyer wrote in
that "the government
apparently objects to... a
fair and impartial jury and
opposes his request that
prospective jurors be shown
the Western District of
Washington's unconscious bias
video." On August 11 the
US Attorney's Office docketed
its proposed Examination of
Jurors, about the killings of
Terrence Smith and Sergio
Santana and December 26 2021
by 168th Street and Morris
Avenue, then a very general
bias question. On August 20 the
US Attorney's Office wrote in
asking for reconsideration of
a rule on "Individual-1,"
attaching an NYPD lab test
that said "establishes that
the firearm recovered from
Individual-1 was NOT the
firearm used in the murders." On August 21 the
US Attorney's Office filed a
motion in limine seeking to
allow introduction at trial of
evidence of two earlier
arrests of the defendant with
crack cocaine on his person,
as relevant. On September 15,
Inner City Press went to the
trial. A doctor testified
about a bright bullet in the
soft flesh of the neck. Ms.
Arzu testified about the
father of her daughter, the
victim. After 2
pm, after Judge McMahon held
an unrelated status conference
- considering a Deferred
Prosecution Agreement - in the
Pildes / SantCon case - it was
announced that two jurors had
approached the approachable
court room deputy and said
they are afraid for their
personal safety. Judge McMahon
had the lawyer back into the
robing room to speak with the
two jurors who, it appeared,
remained. On September 16
on the stand was a doctor who
used many acronyms, from LIMS
(Lab Info) to JCMS, and
analyzed crack cocaine in
containers. On September 18
Judge McMahon docketed her
letter to counsel about the
jury charge, noting she'd
tried to address "the
[Justice] Barrett 'no two
convictions' problem of 924(j)
and 924(c)" and concluding "We
will start at 10 AM on Monday.
The jurors are coming in at 1
PM." Monday (Yom Kippur), two
trials in EDNY will be off:
Huawei and an Arrow key
assault case before EDNY Judge
Vitaliano... On the afternoon
of Monday, September 21, the
closing argument, live tweeted
here
- including the defense
identifying another suspect,
saying the gun is linked to
him. The prosecution dismissed
this and Judge McMahon began
her instructions. On
September 22 in the late
afternoon, deliberation after
notes continued, with lawyers
and woman and children milling
around in the large courtroom.
On September 23,
"CLIFTON SAVAGE, a/k/a
“Lucky,†found guilty today of
two counts of murder as well
as narcotics and firearms
offenses. The
convictions arise from
SAVAGE’s drug-related killing
of Terrence Smith and Sergio
Santana on December 26, 2021,
in the Bronx. SAVAGE was
convicted following a two-week
trial before U.S. District
Judge Colleen McMahon, who
will impose sentence on
January 27, 2027." More on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here Watch this site. The case is USA v. Savage, 1:25-cr-472 (McMahon)
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innercitypress.com |
Friday, October 9, 2026
In Federal Trial of Man Found Not Guilty in Bronx Court of 2 Murders Now Deliberations
